1. Field of the Invention
The present invention is directed to a magnetic resonance apparatus.
2. Description of the Prior Art
Magnetic resonance technology is a known technology for acquiring images of an inside of a body of an examination subject. To that end, rapidly switched gradient fields that are generated by a gradient coil system are superimposed in a magnetic resonance apparatus on a static basic magnetic field that is generated by a basic field magnet system. The magnetic resonance apparatus further has a radiofrequency system that emits radiofrequency signals into the examination subject for triggering magnetic resonance signals and that picks up the generated magnetic resonance signals. Magnetic resonance images are produced based on the received signals.
For generating gradient fields, suitable currents must be produced in gradient coils of the gradient coil system. The amplitudes of the required currents amount to up to several 100 A. The current rise and fall rates amount to up to several 100 kA/s. Given a basic magnetic field on the order of magnitude of 1 T, Lorentz forces that lead to mechanical oscillations of the gradient coil system occur as a result of these time-variable currents in the gradient coils. These oscillations are transmitted to the surface of the apparatus via various propagation paths, where these mechanical oscillations are converted into acoustic oscillations, which ultimately lead to inherently unwanted noise.
An analysis of these oscillations can be made, for example, by analyzing the natural oscillations of the gradient coil system. The natural oscillatory behavior is defined by the natural frequencies and the natural oscillation modes. The effect of the Lorentz forces on the natural oscillation modes is described in the form of participation factors. These indicate the strength with which the Lorentz forces excite a specific natural oscillation form Given knowledge of the participation factors and of the natural frequencies, the oscillation of the gradient coil system for every location and for every frequency can be determined by a superimposition of the oscillations of the individual natural oscillation modes.
Conversely, however, oscillations and/or impacts deriving from the environment in which the magnetic resonance apparatus is placed also can be transmitted onto the apparatus. When, for example, the apparatus is placed in load-bearing fashion on a floor of a room, then deformations of the floor that are generated outside the apparatus are transmitted onto the apparatus, which can lead to a degradation of the quality of magnetic resonance images.
Measurements representing the above-described oscillations are obtained, for example, during a testing mode of the magnetic resonance apparatus in the lab. To this end, a number of wire strain gauges, piezo-sensors and/or acceleration sensors with which the oscillations or deformations can be measured are attached to the apparatus. Such wire strain gauges, for example, are not suited for a long-term investigation of the oscillatory behavior outside the lab due to a lack of electromagnetic compatibility with image registration modes of the apparatus. Such long-term investigations, however, are desirable in order to derive design changes of the apparatus and/or modifications in the drive of the apparatus from an exact knowledge of the oscillations, with the objective of a noise-reduction.
German OS 44 32 747 A1 and OS 198 29 296 disclose actuators allocated to the gradient coil system, particularly actuators containing piezeoelectric elements whose deformation can be controlled such that deformations of the gradient coil system arising during operation of the magnetic resonance apparatus can be actively opposed. The piezoelectric elements are suitably controlled by an electrical voltage applied to them.
The article, xe2x80x9cFaser-Bragg-Gitter: Frequenzselecktive Faserelemente mit maxcex2geschneiderten Eigenschaftenxe2x80x9d by V. Hagemann et al., in Physikalische Blxc3xa4tter 54, No. 3, 1998, pages 243-245, discloses a fiber Bragg grating. Essentially, this is an optical grating integrated into an optical fiber. Light waves that are conducted in the optical fiber and reach the Bragg grating and that satisfy the Bragg condition are reflected by the Bragg grating in a characteristic way. For meeting the Bragg condition, a grid spacing of the Bragg grating, the wavelength of the light, and an incident angle of the light must be in a specific relationship relative to one another. The Bragg condition is usually only met for one specific wavelength, referred to as the Bragg wavelength. The Bragg grating, thus, is wavelength-selective. Light having a different wavelength can pass the Bragg grating unimpeded. Further details are described in the article by D. Eberlein, xe2x80x9cArbeitsblxc3xa4tter Lichtwellenleiter-Technik: Bragg-Gitterxe2x80x9d, Funkschau, Edition 13/99, pages 59 and 60.
The above articles point out the possibility of utilizing the fiber Bragg grating in a measuring instrument as a sensor for acquiring temperature changes and/or changes in length. The suitability of a fiber Bragg grating for this purpose particularly derives from the dependency of the Bragg wavelength on the temperature and/or on a mechanical stretching or compression of the Bragg grating, which leads to a modification of the grid spacings of the Bragg grating, and thus to a characteristic change of the wavelength of the light reflected by the Bragg grating.
Further, German OS 198 27 258 discloses a fiber-optic data transmission system containing fiber Bragg gratings. In a preferred embodiment, a number of fiber Bragg gratings are arranged in an optical fiber distributed over the length thereof, and the optical fiber is merely connected to an evaluation device. The fiber Bragg gratings are implemented with different Bragg wavelengths for an overlap of the light components reflected by the individual fiber Bragg gratings.
An object of the present invention is to provide an improved magnetic resonance apparatus with which, among other things, a deformation behavior arising during operation of the magnetic resonance apparatus can be measured.
This object is inventively achieved in a magnetic resonance apparatus having at least one section of an optical fiber, with at least one Bragg grating with a Bragg wavelength, arranged with respect to the magnetic resonance apparatus so that at least one deformation of the magnetic resonance apparatus can be measured.
Because the optical fiber with the Bragg grating can be fashioned as a purely optical system with magnetically neutral properties, a measurement of deformations of the magnetic resonance apparatus, for example as a consequence of oscillations, is possible during a normal image acquisition mode of the apparatus without disturbing the image acquisition mode due to electromagnetic incompatibilities. Long-term investigations thus can be implemented, and design changes of the apparatus and/or changes in the drive of the apparatus with the goal of a noise-reduction can be derived therefrom as a result of an exact knowledge of the oscillations. Further, the optical fiber can be easily integrated into the magnetic resonance apparatus due to its extremely low space requirement, and an acquisition of deformations at optimally many locations of the magnetic resonance apparatus can be realized. Moreover, since Bragg gratings have long-term constancy without frequent calibration, the optical fiber with the Bragg grating is suited for a long-term utilization in an especially advantageous way. Further, Bragg gratings are distinguished by their high linearity when measuring deformations and by their frequency stability.
In an embodiment, the optical fiber is allocated to a control circuit as a sensor for the deformation, at least one actuator, particularly a piezoelectric element, being controllable with this control circuit for opposing (counteracting) the deformation. As a result, the deformations of the magnetic resonance apparatus can not only be measured but also can be compensated by a corresponding control of the stretching or compression of the actuator. Creation of deformations of the magnetic resonance apparatus and/or forwarding (transmission) of deformations thus can be prevented. Due to the fashioning of the optical fibers as a purely optical system, a high electromagnetic compatibility is also established with respect to the actuators.